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Executive and legislative documents of the State of North Carolina [1885]

18s5.] Document No 17
—
Appendix. 33
have seen what has been the result of quarantine and non-intercourse measures,
when carried into execution with all the strictness which it was in the power of
the most absolute monarchs of Europe to enforce. In no instance have they
succeeded in staying the progress of the pestilence, but have undoubtedly, in
many instances, augmented the misery and suffering of the people, and the num-ber
of victims to the disease.
In an elaborate report made to the Philadelphia Board of Heallh in 1S31, upon
the causes and treatment of cholera, two series of facts relating to the origin
and spread of the disease in Europe are given, to which reference may be here
made, as well as to other important data from the same repoit.
First, the best regulated restrictive measures, by sanitary cordons and rigid
quarantines, were of no avail in warding off the disease from Astrachan, Mos-cow,
St. Petersburgh, Danzig, Berlin, Breslau, Vienna, Hamburgh, Paris, Sun-derland,
Newcastle, Cairo and Alexandria. If these measures could ever be
hoped to avail, it would have been w hen enforced, as in Russia, Austria and
Prussia, with the whole authority and power of the governments of those coun-tries.
Second, it has been shown by official documents, that cholera broke out and
attacted persons, citizens respectively of the above named cities, who had had
no intercourse with persons from abroad, nor with any who had been or were
then affected with the cholera. Moreover, the disease attacked, within the pe-riod
of a few hours, persons in different and remote parts of these cities, who
could not possibly have affected each other. The cholera appeared first in
England, in 1823, in the town of Sunderland, notwithstanding guardships and
quarantine ; and its springing up suddenly in other towns in England and Scot-land
could not be traced to a foreign source. For weeks sometimes months before
the breaking out of the disease in its epidemic and virulent variety, sporadic cases
had occurred, and there was observed a great tendency to gastric and intestinal
disturbance.
As a rule, the disease will appear first vi'here the original or secondary causes
are the most powerful. If the state of the atmosphere over the world, at any
one time, is equally vitiated by some unknown cause, its effects will first appear
in places where that state of the air is most powerfully aided by local vitiations,
as in cities or marshy grounds.
Dr. Kirk, of Greenock, says: "No man who carefully examines the habitudes
of cholera, without prejudice and prepossession, can come to any other conclu-sion
but that, in all great eruptions of the disease, it is an epidemic depending
upon atmospherical and malarial influence ;" and Dr. Laurie's most graphic and
excellent description of the disease at Gateshead, needs only to be read by any
unprejudiced man to convince him that the unfortunates seized on the morning
of the 26th of December, 1830, were smitten by an atmospherical epidemic and
not by an imported contagion. "The inhabitants of Gateshead," says Dr.
Laurie, "fell asleep on the 25th of December, with a sense of perfect security
and devoid of panic, but before the sun rose on the 26th, fifty-five individuals
had been seized, thirty-two of whom were not destined to see it set." In this
instance a predisposition from the state of the atmosphere undoubtedly existed,
and there was no evidence whatever that the disease was propagated liy conta-gion
or was of imported origin.
We have already referred to the futile attempts to ward off the disease from
certain European cities in 1823. We come now to notice the attempts in Eu-rope
to keep off the disease by restrictive measures of isolation and non-inter-course
with Astrachan in 1S30. The cholera first appeared one hundred versts
(67 miles) from Astrachan, on board the vessel of war, Baken. last from the Isle
of Sara, a place exempt at the time from cholera ; this vessel was retained in
quarantine in Sedlitz, sixty miles from Astrachan, and not one of the sick
reached this latter city. The cholera manifested itself rapidly and simultane-ously
in many parts of the city, without the sick having had any communication
with the phaces above mentioned. The first person affected with the disease

18s5.] Document No 17
—
Appendix. 33
have seen what has been the result of quarantine and non-intercourse measures,
when carried into execution with all the strictness which it was in the power of
the most absolute monarchs of Europe to enforce. In no instance have they
succeeded in staying the progress of the pestilence, but have undoubtedly, in
many instances, augmented the misery and suffering of the people, and the num-ber
of victims to the disease.
In an elaborate report made to the Philadelphia Board of Heallh in 1S31, upon
the causes and treatment of cholera, two series of facts relating to the origin
and spread of the disease in Europe are given, to which reference may be here
made, as well as to other important data from the same repoit.
First, the best regulated restrictive measures, by sanitary cordons and rigid
quarantines, were of no avail in warding off the disease from Astrachan, Mos-cow,
St. Petersburgh, Danzig, Berlin, Breslau, Vienna, Hamburgh, Paris, Sun-derland,
Newcastle, Cairo and Alexandria. If these measures could ever be
hoped to avail, it would have been w hen enforced, as in Russia, Austria and
Prussia, with the whole authority and power of the governments of those coun-tries.
Second, it has been shown by official documents, that cholera broke out and
attacted persons, citizens respectively of the above named cities, who had had
no intercourse with persons from abroad, nor with any who had been or were
then affected with the cholera. Moreover, the disease attacked, within the pe-riod
of a few hours, persons in different and remote parts of these cities, who
could not possibly have affected each other. The cholera appeared first in
England, in 1823, in the town of Sunderland, notwithstanding guardships and
quarantine ; and its springing up suddenly in other towns in England and Scot-land
could not be traced to a foreign source. For weeks sometimes months before
the breaking out of the disease in its epidemic and virulent variety, sporadic cases
had occurred, and there was observed a great tendency to gastric and intestinal
disturbance.
As a rule, the disease will appear first vi'here the original or secondary causes
are the most powerful. If the state of the atmosphere over the world, at any
one time, is equally vitiated by some unknown cause, its effects will first appear
in places where that state of the air is most powerfully aided by local vitiations,
as in cities or marshy grounds.
Dr. Kirk, of Greenock, says: "No man who carefully examines the habitudes
of cholera, without prejudice and prepossession, can come to any other conclu-sion
but that, in all great eruptions of the disease, it is an epidemic depending
upon atmospherical and malarial influence ;" and Dr. Laurie's most graphic and
excellent description of the disease at Gateshead, needs only to be read by any
unprejudiced man to convince him that the unfortunates seized on the morning
of the 26th of December, 1830, were smitten by an atmospherical epidemic and
not by an imported contagion. "The inhabitants of Gateshead," says Dr.
Laurie, "fell asleep on the 25th of December, with a sense of perfect security
and devoid of panic, but before the sun rose on the 26th, fifty-five individuals
had been seized, thirty-two of whom were not destined to see it set." In this
instance a predisposition from the state of the atmosphere undoubtedly existed,
and there was no evidence whatever that the disease was propagated liy conta-gion
or was of imported origin.
We have already referred to the futile attempts to ward off the disease from
certain European cities in 1823. We come now to notice the attempts in Eu-rope
to keep off the disease by restrictive measures of isolation and non-inter-course
with Astrachan in 1S30. The cholera first appeared one hundred versts
(67 miles) from Astrachan, on board the vessel of war, Baken. last from the Isle
of Sara, a place exempt at the time from cholera ; this vessel was retained in
quarantine in Sedlitz, sixty miles from Astrachan, and not one of the sick
reached this latter city. The cholera manifested itself rapidly and simultane-ously
in many parts of the city, without the sick having had any communication
with the phaces above mentioned. The first person affected with the disease